Washington announced on Tuesday that they had intercepted and delivered thousands of Kalashnikov assault rifles and machine guns, along with over half a million rounds of ammunition, grenade launchers, and sniper rifles, to Kiev, according to the US Central Command.
The transfer occurred on April 4 and was said to contain sufficient supplies to equip a single Ukrainian brigade with small arms, as stated in a post on X (formerly Twitter) by CENTCOM.
The US government disclosed that they had provided the Ukrainian armed forces with more than 5,000 AK-47s, machine guns, sniper rifles, RPG-7s, and over 500,000 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition.
The Pentagon reported that the weapons and ammunition were seized by the US Navy and its allies from stateless vessels off the coast of Yemen between May 2021 and February 2023, en route from Iran to the Houthi militia in Yemen, in violation of a UN arms embargo.
In December, the US government took ownership of the seized munitions through civil forfeiture claims by the Justice Department, a controversial practice criticized as de facto theft.
USCENTCOM emphasized its commitment to collaborating with allies and partners to counter the flow of Iranian lethal aid in the region through legal means, citing concerns over Tehran’s support for armed groups that threaten international and regional security.
The announcement coincided with uncertainty surrounding additional US funding for Ukraine‘s war efforts, with President Joe Biden pushing Congress to approve a $60 billion aid package for Ukraine, a measure that has faced opposition from some Republicans seeking more accountability and border security measures.
Since the conflict began, the US has provided Ukraine with $113 billion in various forms of assistance, despite Russia’s repeated condemnation of Western arms shipments to Kiev.
